Pubdate: Sat, 17 Feb 2007
Source: Now, The (Surrey, CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 The Now Newspaper
Contact: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/forms/lettersform.html
Website: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1462
Author: Ted Colley

CRACKDOWN TO CONTINUE

And then there were seven.....Surrey drug cops have scooped 58 
street-level drug dealers off Whalley's streets this week, leaving 
just seven more suspects on the loose. To boost the pressure on the 
wanted men, Surrey RCMP released a rogue's gallery of their mug shots 
to local papers Friday.

Surrey RCMP Cpl. Roger Morrow said the operation has been a success 
and many of the arrested dealers remain in custody pending trial.

"There could be as many as 50 still in custody; that's still to be 
confirmed," Morrow said.

"That's pretty good. These guys usually go underground when this kind 
of operation starts. They get out of Dodge."

Morrow said suspects with extensive police records are being held, 
while those whose rap sheets aren't so long are being released on bail.

He said this week's sweep is the first in a series of operations 
calculated to curb drug dealing and associated crime in the city. 
"We're still after the high-end people, but we have to deal with 
local-level guys, too. We're going to be going after crack shacks and 
the dial-a-dopers."

Just how effective the sweep has been depends on who you talk to. On 
Friday morning, half-a-dozen crack smokers hung out in front of an 
empty building in the 10700-block of 135A Street, in the dark heart 
of Whalley's drug scene.

While one of the group fires up his crack pipe, a woman whose face 
shows the ravages of drug abuse shrugs off the Mounties' efforts. 
With several dozen dealers taken down, she said, crack cocaine is 
still easy to find.

"No, it's not harder to get a rock. It doesn't make any difference. 
People have their ways," she said, refusing to give a name.

Robert is out walking with Conan, his German shepherd. He returned to 
live in Whalley a year ago after spending some time in Terrace, his 
hometown. There's no work there, he said, so he's back in Surrey 
trying to make a living for himself and his young family.

"I lived here for 20 years. When I heard the SkyTrain was coming, I 
moved. I knew it was going to be trouble. It's worse here now than it 
ever was. When I lived here before, you had gangs like the Whalley 
Burnouts running around, but it wasn't this bad."

Robert said he hasn't noticed any change since the drug sweep began.

"Drugs are a huge problem. I don't know if you can really do anything 
about it," he said.

Tina owns the African Superstore on King George Highway, near 108th 
Avenue. She came to Canada from Ghana 12 years ago. She's pleased 
with the RCMP's work in the neighbourhood. "It's better now. There 
used to be a lot of those drug people all over the street. The police 
go up and down and there's not so many now," she said.

Naseeb Naebkhil agrees. He owns the Ariana Islamic Gift Market a 
half-block down the street from Tina's store. Since the RCMP sweep 
began, he said, there's less drug activity on the street and things 
are calmer than before.

"There's not so much yelling and running around after each other - 
things drugs make you do," Naebkhil said.

"It's better."

Morrow said police know the crackdown won't eliminate the drug 
problem in Surrey, but they believe it will help control it.

"We never claimed it was going to be the be all and end all. Will it 
mean the end of drug dealing in Whalley? No. Will it slow things 
down? Yes, it will," said Morrow.
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